After-Take: CHICAGO MED “Us”

Name of the Episode: “Us”

Beware – spoilers!!

Reese is feeling the pressure about her residency match day. She would like to be in pathology, but without any confirmation so far, all she can do is worry. Natalie’s mother in law, Helen, currently cares for Owen and keeps giving unsolicited advice. Helen would like Natalie to get Owen Christened. Jeff was raised Catholic, but never went to services as an adult. Natalie isn’t religious and feels hypocritical for going through with the service. Will wants to support Natalie, so he makes a few calls to find a priest as an option. Will is still upset about his patient Jennifer getting the placebo treatment for her cancer.

A young woman is brought in with a severe head wound; a large ice block fell from a building and crushed half of her head. With the ice rapidly melting, Connor and Will only have seconds to make their decision to stop the bleeding. Will spots the split artery and Connor is able to clamp it to stop the bleeding. Sadly, the brain scan showed she is beyond repair. Lisa will never wake up from the coma. Her husband’s last request is to harvest eggs so he can have a baby. The procedure is expensive and complicated, but Sharon gets the process started. Burgess brings in a patient, Mr. Tacker. He was picked up at a hardware store. He took a hatchet and began to chop his arm. He loudly begs to have his arm cut off. The doctors cannot perform the action because the arm can be saved; multiple tests will be run so they can determine the cause of the outburst.

A little boy, Eric swallows some magnets and his father brings him in. Mr. Jenkins is a worried single dad hoping Eric will just pass the magnets through naturally. After surgery, Mr. Tacker wakes up disappointed to see his arm is still attached. Dr. Charles tries to understand why his patient would want to take his own arm off. Mr. Tacker insists that since he was a child he felt like the arm was never a part of him. He feels like he’s walking around with a piece that’s dead and not his. No one believes his struggle, but Dr. Charles wants to help.

Will helps find a priest to baptize Owen. The service can be done by the next Sunday, but Natalie is hesitant and wants more time to think about it. Will has to deliver more bad news to Mr. Patrick. Lisa was using an IUD; she did not want to have kids. Dr. Charles also has found a diagnosis for Mr. Tacker, he believes B.I.I.D.(body integrity identity disorder), is the cause of the self-infliction.

Mr. Tacker’s sense of self does not go towards his left fingertips, only to his left elbow. Besides a suicide hold, Dr. Charles will have to let him go unless he has a way to cure him. In the waiting room, Will sees Jennifer and her family leaving the hospital. Her health is rapidly decreasing and she wants to go home. Mr. Jenkins is falling for April and asks her out for coffee. He cannot reach his ex-wife for confirmation on surgery.

The magnets are attracted to each other and could cause harm to his digestive tracts. More trouble ensues on the main floor; Reese has to drill a hole into a patient’s head to release the spinal fluid pressure from his brain. She finds the pocket of air and the patient’s blood pressure decreases, saving his life.

Mr. Tacker discusses options with Dr. Charles; such as nerve blockage, along with therapy and medication to help with the awareness of the arm. Sharon is livid with Reese’s decision to operate on the patient without any supervision. Dr. Choi backs up Reese on the call he made to have her drill the patient unsupervised. Sharon agrees to the terms, and demands it never happens again. Just then, Eric throws up blood, and Connor immediately takes him up to surgery. Mr. Jenkins can only feel guilty he did not consent to the surgery earlier in the day. The magnets are found and taken out successfully. However, Connor sees a ruptured artery in the stomach, he asks Natalie to assist. Both of them are able to secure the blood loss and stitch Eric back up with no more complications.

Reese confides in Joey, her boyfriend, that she’s mixed up with her feelings. After saving a life and having Dr. Choi call her family, she doesn’t know what to think. Mr. Tacker keeps discussing options with Dr. Charles, such as pretend therapy. Functioning as is the limb is not there in their daily life. He seemed to have a plan and everything looked good going forward. However, a few minutes later, Mr. Tacker’s readings spiked. He made a tunicate out of his tubes to cut off the circulation below the left elbow. Dr. Choi said they had no choice but to amputate the arm because releasing the tubes would send potassium to the heart and send him into failure.

Reese faces the decisive moment, her match is confirmed. She shows Joey first, Chicago Med Pathology. Joey seems more excited about the news than Reese is. Although Dr. Charles was played by his patient, he sees the results are a happy one. Sometimes the patient’s best interests aren’t always in the hands of the doctors. Lisa’s husband decides to still move forward with the egg harvesting. Even though the signs are clearly saying, “No” Mr. Patrick doesn’t want to see it. Will can relate because of his situation with Jennifer.

At the end of the episode, Natalie decides to wait on Owen’s baptism. She wants to be a part of a community, be connected to something before taking Owen into it too. Sadly,
Jennifer passes away at her home with her family. Will attends the funeral service off to the side. Jennifer’s husband comes over to thank Will for not giving up hope.

Natalie gets Owen baptized in the church located at Chicago Med. Surrounded by her family and the medical family. Will meets with Jay and discusses his discouragement with the study. Jay insists Will did the right thing and that he simply cares for people.

Next week: Is a father and husband abusing his family? The signs are there, but nobody wants to lame blame. Stay tuned for more after takes!